A Town in Corsica Won Back Housing Lost to Tourists for Locals

Bastia in Corsica said at a July 16 municipal council meeting that two years of short-term rental rules had “returned 233 homes” to year-round residents, Le Monde reported.

Mayor Gilles Simeoni said the city had “returned 233 homes to the people of Bastia” in the first assessment of what the article called its “fight against Airbnb-ization.” Le Monde said the nationalist-led town hall takes pride in Bastia’s heritage but does not intend to turn the city into “a museum filled with short-term rentals.”

The policy began on June 1, 2023, with registration of properties and a change-of-use procedure, and uses a compensation mechanism as a second pillar, according to Le Monde. Owners with multiple properties must offset each tourist rental by offering an equivalent home for year-round rental in the same area.

The rules focus on the historic Genoese Citadel and Old Port neighborhoods, where municipal services say nearly 70% of short-term rentals are concentrated. In two years, the city found 191 short-term rentals had closed and 149 owners had ceased their activity.

Primary residences may be rented for up to 120 nights a year, while Bastia prohibits renting out a furnished property acquired less than five years ago. “We have redirected 35,000 nights per year to hotels and curbed speculative practices, as the average price per square meter in the Citadel neighborhood dropped by 10% between 2022 and 2025, from €3,440 to €3,100,” Simeoni told Le Monde.